Mediterranean Diet Tops List of 'Livable' Diets

We’ve all seen ads for miracle diets that promise to help us shed weight in days, weeks, or months.

But what happens next?

Do people stay the course and maintain the loss, or regain the weight with a vengeance?

A team of Israeli researchers followed participants for four years after an initial two-year workplace-based study to try and answer these questions. Participants followed one of three weight loss plans: a low-fat, low-calorie diet; a Mediterranean-style, low-calorie diet; or a low-carb eating plan without calorie restrictions.

Overall, the Mediterranean diet led to the most dramatic changes, but people on the other diets also did pretty well. A Mediterranean diet is rich in fruits, vegetables, fish, whole grains, legumes, healthy fats like olive oil, and moderate amounts of alcohol. It is also low in sweets, meats, and saturated fats like butter.

Eighty-six percent of the participants were men, and most were considered moderately obese when the study began. Researchers also educated their spouses about the diet so changes could be made at home, too.

At two years, 85% of the participants were still following their diet programs. Participants on the Mediterranean diet and low-carb diet lost more weight than those on the low-fat diet.

Four years after the study officially ended, 67% of participants were still on their eating plan, 11% had switched to another a type of diet, and 22% were not dieting at all.

Mediterranean Diet Is the Winner

Everyone regained some of the weight they had lost in the original study, but all were thinner than when the study first began. The weight loss was highest in the Mediterranean and low-carb groups for the entire six-year period: about 7 pounds and close to 4 pounds, respectively. All participants also showed improvements in their total cholesterol levels.

“Our study suggests that the Mediterranean and low-carb diets have better [cholesterol] effects, as well as less weight regain,” says researcher Dan Schwarzfuchs, MD, of the Negev Nuclear Research Center in Dimona, Israel. “When a person needs to change their life habits, I try to tailor the diet to their personal preferences with precedence to Mediterranean or low-carb diets.”